Sea of Greed

“…have been forced to hack… NUMA system compromised… Kurt’s location known and being tracked… In danger… Will be attacked upon discovery of French submarine… Tessa desperate to possess antidote… Claiming possession of guided antiship missiles… Please warn before…”

A long squeal interrupted the broadcast and, when it faded, there was no sound whatsoever.

“Ellie, what happened?”

“We’ve lost the signal,” she replied. “Transmission has ceased. I’m sorry. I’ll have the recording logged and labeled appropriately.”

“No,” Hiram said. “Make no record of it.”

“But—”

“Store the recording under a miscellaneous file, label it something innocuous like Sunspot Interference and speak to no one about this.”

“But, Mr. Yaeger, that’s not our standard protocol.”

“Do it,” Hiram said. “I’ll explain later.”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

Hiram put the phone down, breaking the contact. “Max,” he said. “Have we been hacked?”

“My systems are secure,” Max said. “But NUMA has other servers and stand-alone systems.”

“Please check them thoroughly,” Hiram ordered.

It took a few minutes, but Max answered exactly as Hiram expected him to. “Ninety-two percent chance that supply and logistics module has been compromised. Other applications show similar intrusions.”

“That explains how they found Kurt in the Mediterranean,” Hiram said.

“Would you like me to secure the system with revised procedures?”

Hiram debated for a second. “No,” he said. “Leave it alone for the moment.”

“Allowing a known security breach to remain open is inadvisable,” Max said. “It will only invite further intrusions.”

“I know,” Hiram said. “But I’d rather they not know we’re onto them.”

“A reasonable gambit.”

“A gambit is right,” Hiram said. “I need to speak with Kurt and Rudi. But not via the satellite network, in case that has been compromised as well.”

“The Gryphon is equipped with encrypted radio receivers,” Max said. “Impossible for a third party to listen in.”

63

KURT WAS GETTING READY to join the dive when the blue radio squawked. The call struck Kurt oddly. Blue — or encrypted radio — was an older system. It was rarely used anymore, as NUMA relied almost exclusively on satellite links for communications these days.

The radio alert repeated and this time it was followed by a voice transmission. “Kurt, this is Hiram, do you read? Over.”

Kurt picked up the microphone, held it near his mouth and pressed the talk switch. “Coming in loud and clear,” he said. “What’s with the old-fashioned radio call?”

“We have reason to believe satellite communications have been compromised.”

“Roger that,” Kurt said. “We’ll keep off the satellite network.”

“I have some good news,” Hiram added. “We’ve heard from Priya. Both she and Joe are alive.”

Kurt clenched his hand. “I knew Joe would find a way off that ship. Where are they?”

“Priya’s somewhere in Kazakhstan, exact location is unclear. Joe’s whereabouts are even more of a mystery. They appear to have escaped together but have since become separated. According to the message, Joe was attempting some act of sabotage when he vanished.”

“That sounds like Joe,” Rudi said.

“There’s more,” Hiram said. “Tessa hacked our data network and has been watching your every move. She knows you’re diving on a wreck believed to be the Minerve and she knows what you’re looking for. She intends to stop you and take it for herself.”

“How?”

“The Monarch is now armed with air-to-sea missiles and heading your way.”

Kurt envisioned the strategy. “She won’t risk getting close to us. Not after what we did to those helicopters. She’ll hit us from long range and then drop off her hired hands to clean up whatever’s left.”

“How much time do we have?” Rudi asked.